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Bible Lexicons
Old Testament Hebrew Lexical Dictionary
Strong's #3389 - יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
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יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (as found sometimes, though rarely, in the books of Chronicles, 1 Chronicles 3:5 also on some of the coins of the Maccabees, although others of them have the name spelled defectively, see Eckhel, Doctr. Numm. Vett. iii. page 466, seq.), commonly יְרוּשָׁלַםִ, anciently (Genesis 14:18) and poet. (Psal. 76:3 ) שָׁלֵם pr.n. Jerusalem (Gr. Ἱερουσαλήμ and Ἱεροσόλυμα), a royal city of the Canaanites (Joshua 10:1, Joshua 10:5, 15:8 ), and from the time of David and onward the metropolis of the Hebrews, and the royal city of the house of David; situated on the borders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Interpreters differ as to the etymology and orthography. As to the first of its compounded parts, Reland (Palæstina, p. 832, seq.), and lately, Ewald (Heb. Gramm. p. 332), consider that יְרוּשָׁלַםִ stands for יְרוּשׁ־שָׁלַיִם the possession of peace, one שׁ being excluded; but this does not agree well with analogy: for, in Hebrew, the former of doubled letters is not in such a case usually excluded, but is commonly compensated with Dagesh forte; as in יְרֻבַּעַל for יָרוֹב בַּעַל; besides the form יְרוּשׁ with the meaning of possession (=יְרֻשָּׁה) neither occurs separately nor yet in composition. I prefer regarding יְרוּ as a segolate noun (of the form רְעוּ, מְתוּ), i.q. Arabic وَرًى men, and יְרוּשׁלם men or people of peace; or perhaps, house or habitation of peace; just as, on the contrary, أَهْلُ and بَيْتُ are transferred from the house to the inhabitants. The same word is found in the pr.n. of a desert, יְרוּאֵל, which may be more suitably rendered house of God than people of God; and the same interpretation of this name is found in Saadiah, who translates دار السلام and السلام مدينة house of peace, city of peace: [In Thes. Gesenius takes the former part of this name יְרוּ from the root יָרָה, signifying foundation, and thus ירושׁלם the foundation of peace]. As to the latter of the compound parts of this name, some suppose שָׁלַםִ and שָׁלַיִם to be the dual of שָׁלֶה quiet, and they think that a city in two parts was designated by this name, referring to 2 Samuel 5:9 (Ewald, loc. cit.): but no mention is made in the cited passage of a double city; and it may be pretty certainly concluded that ם in this word is originally radical, not servile; as shewn by the forms שָׁלֵם, Arab. شَلَمُ, شَلَّمُ Chald. יְרוּשְׁלָם, Gr. Σόλυμα, Ἱεροσόλυμα. It appears to me that whenever it is written defectively יְרוּשָׁלַםִ, it should be pronounced יְרוּשָׁלֵם the dwelling of peace: and at length the later writers regarded ־ֵם as an ancient form of the Dual, and on this account every where to have read יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, even in those places where it is written defectively in the text; [It is written with the Yod in very few places]. In like manner, Samaria was called in Hebrew and anciently, שֹׁמְרוֹן, Ch. שָׁמְרָן, and hence as if it were a dual, שָׁמְרַיִן; compare Lehrg. page 538.
the Week of Proper 8 / Ordinary 13